The protocols, communication infrastructure and hosting modes used by tools and other automated or semi-automated equipment in semi conductor fabs and foundries, metal cutting shops, healthcare and other domains developed over the years, when communication and processor speeds were relatively limited. Message protocols for foundry, shop floor and healthcare applications were designed to utilize low-speed, serial communications. These message protocols included structured messages, which could be transmitted quickly even with low-speed communications. Structured messages were and remain difficult to translate and understand. The difficulty is exacerbated when a first message sets a context for a response and a second, responsive message does not repeat the context; that is, the context-sensitive response is only meaningful when paired with the corresponding context-setting message. Matching context-setting and context-sensitive messages can be a very tedious task, especially when the context-setting-messages precede the context-setting messages by hours, days or weeks, instead of immediately preceding the responsive messages. The communication infrastructure may utilize serial communications or a bus structure, compliant with SECS or CAN+. Hosts are centralized, monolithic programs that are difficult to modify.
Therefore, it is desirable to introduce methods and devices for improved communications between tools and processes requiring information from tools and other automated or semi-automated equipment.